In 2003, Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House went to auction as buyers considered moving it away

The Farnsworth House was built for Dr. Edith Farnsworth as a weekend retreat (Image Credit: William E. Dunlap via National Trust for Historic Preservation) A modernist house in Illinois came surprisingly close to being taken apart and moved away from the landscape it was designed for. In 2003, the Farnsworth House, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was put up for sale, and some potential buyers were interested in dismantling it and moving it to another state. According to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the house faced an imminent threat, and the organisation joined Landmarks Illinois and local supporter John Bryan to save it. They bought it at auction for more than $7.5 million, keeping the landmark where Mies had intended it to stand.A house designed to blend with its surroundingsThe Farnsworth House was built for Dr. Edith Farnsworth as a weekend retreat. Mies designed the house around a simple idea: let the building and its natural surroundings become part of the same experience. Completed in 1951, the house is a 1,586-square-foot, single-storey structure made largely of steel and glass. It sits beside the Fox River in Plano, Illinois, on a 62-acre property. I...